Dirtysouth's Project Thread

[dirtysouth_msp]

What up guys? Well it's finally almost time. I've been accumulating parts for the last 3 months and I'm about to the point where I have everything that I need for the first stage. Basically I'm going forged and upgrading a bunch of other shit while the motor is out. I run the office side of things at a shop and will have 3 ASE certified mechanics plus myself working on the install.

The following is a list of what I have or will have when its all said and done:

SITTING IN LIVING ROOM:
- MAM built short block
- Cometic multi-layer head gasket
- Cometic full gasket set
- Exedy stage 1 clutch
- SPEC aluminum flywheel
- steel braided clutch line
- Walbro 255lph fuel pump
- AEM wideband
- Hose Techniques vac hose kit
- AWR rear motor mount
- AWR deep sump, baffled oil pan (if it will fit with the exhaust)
- Perrin fuel rail
- JDM STI (EJ22) Injectors 560cc
- Protege Garage IM

To be ordered soon:
- GT28rs
- Greddy Type S or RS (going to relocate MAF)

INSTALLED:
- Unichip (will be retuned by a shop here in GA)
- Vibrant exhaust
- HiBoost FMIC Kit
- Injen "SRI" with custom heatsheild
- AWR front motor mount
- Kartboy shifter & bushings
- Corksport bronzeoil shifter bushings
- Rotorwork cross-drilled & slotted rotors (front & rear)
- Axxis Metal-Master brake pads (front & rear)
- AutoMeter Ultralight boost/vac guage
- Greddy TT
- Memphis & Diamond Audio system I spent way too much on, lol

EVENTUALLY:
- Quaife LSD.
- Suspension upgrades.

Anybody have any suggestions or advice? Other than, use a different EMS, because it has to be able to pass emissions testing.

I will probably be selling a shit-load of stock parts here pretty soon so be on the lookout for me in the for sale section.

[dirtysouth_msp]

35 views and no comments or suggestions? Where are all the hardcore guys with built motors? Does Anyone have a setup like this & want to chime in? Where are the vendors trying to sell me shit, lol?

[sanblaster]

Where are the vendors trying to sell me shit, lol?

(rofl2)

[jmv]

so what are you doing about an S-pipe?? Does the stock one even bolt up to the 28rs?? Doesn't seem practical to have spent that much and leave that peice stock. Looks like fun though, i'm jealous.... :)

[dirtysouth_msp]

so what are you doing about an S-pipe?? Does the stock one even bolt up to the 28rs?? Doesn't seem practical to have spent that much and leave that peice stock. Looks like fun though, i'm jealous.... :)

Yeah, the GT28rs will fit right in after you clock it and modify the position of the actuator. S-pipe upgrades have not really shown much in the way of hp gains. It's really the least of my worries.

I am thinking about getting the Corksport piece, but it seems to break too easy and really does not look that great. I think it's like 5 or 6 different little peices of piping all welded together. I have motormounts and all, but still. Any one have an s-pipe they want to sell?

[Mr.E]

INSTALLED:
- Unichip (will be retuned by a shop here in GA)
Got the Unichip system, but what shop did you have it tuned by/ installed? BTW mine is uninstalled

[dirtysouth_msp]

INSTALLED:
- Unichip (will be retuned by a shop here in GA)
Got the Unichip system, but what shop did you have it tuned by/ installed? BTW mine is uninstalled

I installed it myself and it will be retuned after all the work is done by Battleground Engineering in Smyrna, GA. I can help you with the install if you would like. It only takes an hour or so. Shoot me a PM.

[03MSP]

Before you order injectors I highly suggest you think of getting larger than 440's. With all that you are doing being held back by injectors probably won't make you happy.

I am currently using 440's and they are maxed in the upper revs (only for a split second) on 14-15 psi on the stock turbo. I did tune it pretty rich but still it shows that they have hardly anything left in them.

Edit: Oh yeah, the corksport S+J pipes are nice. When you see the stocker off you can tell how small it really is. If you do get those do not use the stock bolts for the S to J flange, trust me (ughdance)

[MrDiggler]

I would highly recommend putting in at least a welded diff while everything is out. My stocker let go after basically babying my car for 32k miles. After all that you are doing, why roll the dice on something that will leave you parked for a while if it lets go, with additional labor headaches to boot? Sweet project, btw. Good luck with everything and keep us posted.

[orng1]

There seems to be quite a bit of research with the mods you have and are planning to do. Good job on that. I would do like has been said and at least weld the diff to add support to the spot welds where they are prone to breaking. Good luck.

[Brian MP5T]

Pictures!!! Plz

[dirtysouth_msp]

Before you order injectors I highly suggest you think of getting larger than 440's. With all that you are doing being held back by injectors probably won't make you happy.

I am currently using 440's and they are maxed in the upper revs (only for a split second) on 14-15 psi on the stock turbo. I did tune it pretty rich but still it shows that they have hardly anything left in them.

Edit: Oh yeah, the corksport S+J pipes are nice. When you see the stocker off you can tell how small it really is. If you do get those do not use the stock bolts for the S to J flange, trust me (ughdance)

What up man? Trying to put that motor to good use! (I got the MAM block from 03MSP.)

So your maxing out the 440's already? How rich are you running when they are maxxed? You think I should be shooting for 550's? I'm worried anything bigger than 440's is gonna make it a bitch to get the idle and low rpms right.

Does anyone know what kind of wiring modifications are required for these 550's from Ken?
http://mazda3online.web.aplus.net/product_info.php?cPath=21_32_167&products_id=480

Anyone know where I can get bigger injectors bigger than 440cc that are plug n' play? RC Engineering maybe?
http://www.rceng.com/

Maybe I should do more research about adding an extra injector. I know it is possible with the unichip, but I'm not aware of anyone that has done it yet on a protege.

[dirtysouth_msp]

Yeah, I know I should probably weld the diff while the motor is out. Does any one have pics of where the placement of the welds needs to be? I know I could probably search and find it if not.

Here are some pics to start with. The block and some of the other stuff is at the shop. I'll take pics after Christmas. The pics of the car are a few months old. The intake/airfilter heatshield was not in yet. It basically just blocks off the corner where the air filter is from the rest of the engine bay. Also I have a yellow DGM grille on the car now that I got from Jeff@Tri-Point.

[03MSP]

Yeah I'm excited to see that block actually getting some action haha.

Attatched is a welded LSD, courtesy of CrazyCaker.

Microtech is saying I'm at max duty at around 6000 RPM, just for one unit of datalogging time (not sure how short it is...but it's short). My AFR's there are low low 11's.

I'm sure the 440's would be fine, but with all that you are doing I was assuming you would be shooting for more boost. If I were to take a guess (not a very educated guess I might add) the 440's will probably take you up to 13-14 psi on the GT28RS, assuming you are running the same AFR's I am, which are pretty rich. With the lower compression you will have it might be fine to run upper 11's.

Not sure how injector swapping works with the Unichip, can plug anything in to the Microtech :p

[Rogue]

Dirtysouth, where in ATL are you? Come check out the GA section. Sorry if I've missed your post in there.

[dirtysouth_msp]

Yeah I'm excited to see that block actually getting some action haha.

Attatched is a welded LSD, courtesy of CrazyCaker.

Microtech is saying I'm at max duty at around 6000 RPM, just for one unit of datalogging time (not sure how short it is...but it's short). My AFR's there are low low 11's.

I'm sure the 440's would be fine, but with all that you are doing I was assuming you would be shooting for more boost. If I were to take a guess (not a very educated guess I might add) the 440's will probably take you up to 13-14 psi on the GT28RS, assuming you are running the same AFR's I am, which are pretty rich. With the lower compression you will have it might be fine to run upper 11's.

Not sure how injector swapping works with the Unichip, can plug anything in to the Microtech :p

Yeah, we have to retain obd2 monitoring/interface capabilities to pass emissions and get our tag. Basically, the emissions computer has to be able to interface to see if there are any stored fault codes in the ecu. I do not know of a standalone that keeps that capability. I could be wrong though.

I'll probably start with the 440's. But, I'm also going to talk to Battleground Engineering and see if they have any experience with adding extra injector setups on the Unichip. They probably have not done it on a Protege, but maybe something with a similar setup. If they can do it, that would be the best way to retain stock-like idle and driveability in the lower rpms. 440's + an extra that only sprays when absolutely needed would be more than enough I'm sure. Injector duty cycle should not really go above 80%. When you say max duty do you mean 100% duty cyle or 80%?

[dirtysouth_msp]

Dirtysouth, where in ATL are you? Come check out the GA section. Sorry if I've missed your post in there.

Actually in Gwinnett. I know Scott (Velocifero) and have met a few of the other guys. Not sure why I have not been in the GA section much. Just been real busy and usually when I'm on the forum I'm just searching and reading like a fiend, lol. I'll have to come out to one of the meets again sometime soon.

[03MSP]

Injector duty cycle should not really go above 80%. When you say max duty do you mean 100% duty cyle or 80%?

I've been wondering this for a while now, just haven't asked Steve or anyone that might know. It saying Max Duty leads me to believe it's 100% (Microtech only shows milliseconds of injectors, not duty cycle). It'd be nice if it was 80% though.

Speaking of that, if you had the injector open time (ms) and the RPM, could you calculate duty cylce? It seems to me that you could but I haven't really sat down to try to figure it out yet.

[MrDiggler]

If you're thinking of bigger injectors you might look at the Sti "pinks" from the j-spec WRX Sti. They are the ones installed on the motor I got from Fountain Motorsports, and they ran around 11 psi from a modified GT25. IIRC, they are 565 cc/min. Not sure if they drop in or not b/c I don't think the fuel rail on my motor is stock. There's info on them around here somewhere.

[03MSP]

the JDM STi Pinks are the same size as the blue WRX 440's so they will drop in. 565cc sounds right. Must be the JDM top feed though.

[dirtysouth_msp]

OK, I've been looking for some JDM STI pink injectors and have found them for around $400 for a set of 4. These may be a viable option. Hopefully I can find some cheaper.

[03MSP]

http://www.jdmpartstx.com/

$250.

[dirtysouth_msp]

I found some brand new ones for under $350. I think I'm going to give them a try.

[Rogue]

i have a set of 440cc that I won't be using any time soon...

[JOMO]

get some 650's.

[dirtysouth_msp]

i have a set of 440cc that I won't be using any time soon...

I may be interested in these if the pinks do not work out. How much?

[Rogue]

I may be interested in these if the pinks do not work out. How much?PM sent

[dirtysouth_msp]

I got my hands on some brand new STI Pink 565cc injectors, so hopefully I will be able to tune for a decent idle and low rpm response.

I just realized that I may need new cooling fans in order to use the gt28rs. I heard from a couple of different posts that there is not enough clearance. Can anyone confirm this?

[03MSP]

I'm almost positive that the stock fans won't fit with the GT28RS.

[jmv]

you can always go with some SPAL slimline fans, thats what i have and they work well, although the A/C condenser fan (9") is a little noisy. You can also mount the A/C condenser fan on the front, instead of behind the radiator, which might give you more clearance.

[Velocifero]

Nice Rob! We are trying to do a dyno day later this month if you are interested in getting a number before and after, it's in the Ga forums, let me know if you're interested so I can keep the list in my head straight. Yeah right.

[dirtysouth_msp]

you can always go with some SPAL slimline fans, thats what i have and they work well, although the A/C condenser fan (9") is a little noisy. You can also mount the A/C condenser fan on the front, instead of behind the radiator, which might give you more clearance.

Well, I think that the hot-side charge pipe on the Hiboost kit will prevent me from putting the ac condensor fan in front. Come to think of it, I may wait to do the fuel system upgrades and gt28rs until after the motor is broken in. I have not really decided yet, but it may be the best/safest way to go.

[03MSP]

That's a good idea. I don't think you'd want to retune while breaking the engine in.

[dirtysouth_msp]

OK, so this is finally happening. I had to wait a little longer than expected to start this project because of some other things I've had going on. Looking at all these parts has been eating away at me for the last few months! I've decided to tackle this project in 2 stages. Stage 1 should be getting underway tomorrow afternoon so long as there are no unforseen circumstances. (breakn)

Plenty of pictures of the process are soon to come (not a how-to though, way too much typing, lol!).

First (Stage 1) I'll install the forged bottom end with the Exedy clutch, Spec Flywheel, new OEM Slave & Master Cylinders, Steel Braided Cluth Line, new Gates Timing Belt, Idler & Tensioner, new OEM Water Pump, PG Intake Manifold, AWR Oil Pan, Rear Motor Mount, Side Inserts, Hose Tech Vac Line Kit, Gauges, etc. When everything is up & running right I'll take like 1500 or so miles to break in the new motor with the stock turbo setup.

Next (Stage 2) I will install the GT28rs, Perrin Fuel Rail, JDM STI (EJ22) Injectors and walbro fuel pump. Then it will be headed straight for the Battleground Engineering to have the Unichip tuned.(rockon)

[Velocifero]

OK, so this is finally happening. I had to wait a little longer than expected to start this project because of some other things I've had going on. Looking at all these parts has been eating away at me for the last few months! I've decided to tackle this project in 2 stages. Stage 1 should be getting underway tomorrow afternoon so long as there are no unforseen circumstances. (breakn)

Plenty of pictures of the process are soon to come (not a how-to though, way too much typing, lol!).

First (Stage 1) I'll install the forged bottom end with the Exedy clutch, Spec Flywheel, new OEM Slave & Master Cylinders, Steel Braided Cluth Line, new Gates Timing Belt, Idler & Tensioner, new OEM Water Pump, PG Intake Manifold, AWR Oil Pan, Rear Motor Mount, Side Inserts, Hose Tech Vac Line Kit, Gauges, etc. When everything is up & running right I'll take like 1500 or so miles to break in the new motor with the stock turbo setup.

Next (Stage 2) I will install the GT28rs, Perrin Fuel Rail, JDM STI (EJ22) Injectors and walbro fuel pump. Then it will be headed straight for the Battleground Engineering to have the Unichip tuned.(rockon)
Awsome Rob, keep me in the loop I want to make sure I get in a ride when you are done with the tune!

[boostdprotegelx]

woohoo. i wanna see this monster!

[dirtysouth_msp]

Well, we got started saturday as planned. Pulled the car in the bay around noon and just jumped in head first, lol. Here are some pics of the MAM built block and the AWR Oil Pan that are going in...

[khaosman]

Sexy as hell :D

You should go for the Microtech or something else over the Unichip though :)

[dirtysouth_msp]

Pic:1
My built short block takes a stand then I cleaned all the mating surfaces.

Pic:2
Soon after, Jacob, JJ and I began getting everything disconnected and before we knew it we hoisting out my stock motor and tranny. Jacob & JJ are the ones with there hands on the motor in the pic, they are the ones that are really putting in a lot of extra time and effort to help me get this swap done. The other two guys in the pic are Jake & Paul they also work at the shop with me and are helping out with the project. Without this kick-ass crew this project would probably not be possible.

Pic 3 & 4:
Just some pics of the stock motor and tranny out of the car.

Pic 5:
Took the valve cover off and found that everything looked nice and clean.

[dirtysouth_msp]

Sexy as hell :D

You should go for the Microtech or something else over the Unichip though :)

Only problem is that I need OBD2 capabilties in order to get tagged where I live. Sure there are some ways to get around it, but I'd like this to be completely legal if possible, eventhough I can't really believe that I'm saying that, lol.

[dirtysouth_msp]

Pic 1:
Something is missing....lol.

Pic 2 & 3:
Cams and Turbo Setup come off so we can remove the head. No worries evertything is being done by the book (shop manual).

Pic 4:
JJ cleans the lower mounting surfaces of the head and preps for reinstallation on the real bottom end, lol.

Pic 5:
Jacob & I spent a good 45 min or so cleaning up the threads in the shortblock for the ARP head studs. This is a pretty important step that should not be skipped, because I don't think that there is any way that the ARP studs could be torqued correctly with the amount of shit that came out of those holes. (Jacob pictured, I'm MIA so far in the pics cuz I'm on the other side of the camera...phone). This was pretty much the end of working on it for Saturday.

[dirtysouth_msp]

Pic 1:
Top Dead Center and making sure the Cometic Head Gasket lines up correctly.

Pics 2 & 3:
Head is on the new shortblock and torqued to ARP specs. Surfaces are getting cleaned and prepped for reinstallation of cams, stock turbo setup and Protege Garage Intake Manifold.

Pics 4 & 5:
Stoc turbo setup, oil filter housing, oil lines, oil pressure sender, knock sensor, etc. all reinstalled. Cams in place but not finished quite yet.

[dirtysouth_msp]

Pics 1 & 2:
Turbo setup, all oil lines, intake mani, cams and cam gears are all installed and torqued to spec

Pics 3 & 4:
Tranny, clutch, flywheel and upper oil pan are removed.

Note: You must remove the tranny clutch and flywheel BEFORE you try to remove the upper oil pan! There ane 2 bolts that can only be seen and accessed with these parts off the motor! Luckily these is the sequence we went at it in the first place, otherwise it could have caused some headaches.

More pics are to come. After prepping the upper oil pan we ran into a couple of minor hold ups from lack of parts. I have to get new seals from Mazda tomorrow for the oil pump, front of crankshaft, oil return line and 2 for the oil pickup due to the extension used for the AWR Oil Pan. It really needs one on each side of it to ensure proper oil pickup. That is it for Sunday.

[khaosman]

Looking nice man! I can't wait to see more updates.

[daedalus]

Sounds like a nastly little build you got going there. Can't wait to see the results!

[dirtysouth_msp]

Thanks guys! There will be more to come soon. Not trying to rush anything or cut any corners, so it is going to take a few days.

[dirtysouth_msp]

What's up everyone? Made a little more progress today, but now I just have to wait for a few parts from Mazda. They are having them overnighted so hopefully I will have them tomorrow.

Pic 1:
Oil pump, timing tensioner & idler are installed and torqued to spec.

Pic 2:
Timing belt is installed and good to go. Don't worry the plastic & cover came off for the timing belt install. Note the white timing marks. We also got the upper oil pan installed, but are stuck waiting for the oil pickup and oil return line seals to go any further.

Pic 3:
AWR inserts installed on the driver's side motor mount. Fitment is tight and the inserts have to be greased a little to get them to slide into the bracket for the mount. But they fit beautifully on this side!

Pic 4:
AWR inserts installed on the passenger side motor mount. The thinner bushing is kind of hard to stretch over the bracket, but after greasing the bracket a little, the insert slid right over with a little muscle and fit nicely. The thicker insert on the other side did not fit that great. The hole in the center does not line up and I had to do some trimming on the inside of the bushing and to the center hole to get it to line up correctly, no big deal. In the picture the zip-ties that came with the bushings are holding the inserts in, this is temporary. I am going to use some long thin bolts with large diameter washers and lock nuts to hold them in, just need to pick some up.

[dirtysouth_msp]

Today, I went to install the oil pressure sending unit for my Autometer Oil Pressure Guage and ran into a slight hold up.

Pic 1:
In the center of the picture you can see the oil feed line adapter. This little adapter (T) threads into the block where the stock oil pressure sending unit (shown in Pic 2) does on a non-turbo fsde. The oil feed line for the turbo threads into the side of it and the stock oil pressure sending unit threads into the top.

Pic 2:
Stock oil pressure sending unit.

Pic 3:
Autometer oil pressure sending unit.

Pic 4:
Brass T fitting and nipple. One would think that these could be used to install the autometer sending unit. However, the threads in the block and on the stock oil pressure sending unit are not the same as the threads on the brass fittings. Funny thing is, the threads on the side of the oil line adapter are the same as those on the brass fitting. So I try to use the brass T fitting and nipple on the side of the adapter, but that won't work either because it causes the nut on the oil feed line to hit protruding areas of the block and prevents it from being able to line up right. I tried adjusting all different directions, but did not have any luck.

Finally I just called the Dealer and sourced another oil feed line adapter. It should be here tomorrow. I'll just install that one on top of the other adapter and install the stock sending unit on top of it with the Autometer sending unit coming off of the side of the new adapter. There is plenty of room to do it that way with the 626 mani installed. I spent way too much time beating myself up before I called the dealer (stooges) . They were actually pretty good at finding the parts I needed that were Mazdaspeed Protege specific. They must have gotten updated info, because not too long ago they couldn't ever find part #'s for anything specific to the speeds.

[khaosman]

Don't break that thing in your block like me :)

[dirtysouth_msp]

Don't break that thing in your block like me :)

Oops! How'd you manage that?

[dirtysouth_msp]

Unfortunately, not much got accomplished today. We were pretty busy at work and I did not get those gaskets and the tee from Mazda at about 3:45 pm today. We got the oil pickup the oil pressure senders squared away, but then ran into another small problem dealing with the AWR Oil Pan which meant another delay until morning.

Pic 1:
This is a pic of the coolant bypass mod. Just switch the position of the ends of hose that have the stars by them and it's done! Coolant travels through the hose with a red stripe, while the hose with the green stripe turns into nothing more than a loop with each end attached through the throttle body. Coolant will no longer flow through the throttle body.

Pic 2 & 3:
This shows how I had to setup the oil pressure senders. That little tee was like $30 from mazda due to the specific threads. What the hell.

[Jaysanooch]

About the coolant bypass, I just want to make sure I understood...so I put arrows on which ends go where. Can you comfirm I'm getting it right?

And thank you for this play by play thread...I'm learning so much, great job man!

[khaosman]

Oops! How'd you manage that?

Shit luck I guess. It just snapped, now I'm having fun getting out :(

What other problems did you encounter with AWR pan?

[daedalus]

Truly a great thread. I am going to do the coolant bypass mod as well. Thanks for posting up the pics in laymans terms!

[djarkitek]

never mind, now i'm jsut wodnering what those lines are running to the oil filter, oil cooler?

[dirtysouth_msp]

What's up guys?

Jaysanooch,
The pic I posted is a view of what it should look like when the coolant bypass "mod" is complete. In stock form, the end with the red star & the end with the green star would be switched. Meaning the end red star will be on the lower right hand corner of the throttle body and end with green star will be on that metal coolant line.

khoasman,
Is the motor still in the car? If so, is there any way you can get some type of drill in there & drill a hole in the center of it. If so, you could just tap a slightly larger extractor in with a hammer and turn that bad boy right out. Maybe the best/easiest way would be to remove the intake manifold. Just make sure to drill as close to the center as possible to avoid screwing up the threads. Well, it seemed the stock oil pan bolts were not long enough, but we were trying to use a gasket. Ditched the gasket and everything was cool. But I ended up using just slightly longer bolts any way because I had already bought them and I figured they would catch the threads better. Finding a match to that bolt type was pretty hard though. Had to get them from this specialty hardware store and it was just dumb luck that they had the length I needed. But, anyway the oil pan fits nicely now.

daedalus,
No problem. This forum and its members have helped me out so much, it's about time to give a little back, lol.

djarkitek,
Which lines are you talking about?

We have the motor and tranny all together and it's ready to drop in. More pics and details coming soon, no time right now.

[dirtysouth_msp]

Reserved for installation pics...

[dirtysouth_msp]

Reserved for more installation pics...

[dirtysouth_msp]

It's alive! We got it up & running yesterday after a frustrating setback with the intake manifold. I can not stress this point enough. Use only an OEM gasket for the intake manifold! The one I got from Ken with the manifold was ripped when I received it, but since I had a Cometic gasket set, I figured I'd just use the on they gave me.
Everything was torqued to spec and should have been happy, but for some reason that Cometic intake gasket would not seal for shit. The car would barely start and ran like ass. We put the smoke machine on the car and smoke poured out from the intake gasket like it was not even there. Many of the other Cometic gaskets, such as the exhaust manifold gasket, seem to be superior in design to the OEM ones, but definitely not for the intake.
I called Mazda to see if they had a gasket and scored on for a 2001 626 which I thought would be perfect since that's the manifold I have. They had it in stock so I ran and scouped on up. An hour later we started the car up and everything was cool. Of course the ECU still has to do some relearning, etc. but other than that it's all good. Now I'm going to limp-mode around for about 500 miles, change/inspect the oil and double check everything.
I will be posting some more pics and info soon, but as for now, we are slammed at work. Also, I'm exhausted from this extravaganza and working all week at the same time.

(2thumbs) (rockon) (rockon)

[daedalus]

Sounds good!

[KzA]

It's alive! We got it up & running yesterday after a frustrating setback with the intake manifold. I can not stress this point enough. Use only an OEM gasket for the intake manifold! The one I got from Ken with the manifold was ripped when I received it, but since I had a Cometic gasket set, I figured I'd just use the on they gave me.
Everything was torqued to spec and should have been happy, but for some reason that Cometic intake gasket would not seal for shit. The car would barely start and ran like ass. We put the smoke machine on the car and smoke poured out from the intake gasket like it was not even there. Many of the other Cometic gaskets, such as the exhaust manifold gasket, seem to be superior in design to the OEM ones, but definitely not for the intake.
I called Mazda to see if they had a gasket and scored on for a 2001 626 which I thought would be perfect since that's the manifold I have. They had it in stock so I ran and scouped on up. An hour later we started the car up and everything was cool. Of course the ECU still has to do some relearning, etc. but other than that it's all good. Now I'm going to limp-mode around for about 500 miles, change/inspect the oil and double check everything.
I will be posting some more pics and info soon, but as for now, we are slammed at work. Also, I'm exhausted from this extravaganza and working all week at the same time.

(2thumbs) (rockon) (rockon)


Hell yea man congrats...thats awesome...I sure could use that smoke machine on my car I got leaks everywhere....

[dirtysouth_msp]

Hell yea man congrats...thats awesome...I sure could use that smoke machine on my car I got leaks everywhere....

The upside of being a manager at a shop - I can use lifts, tools, diagnostic equiptment or whatever I want and work on my car afterhours, when we are slow, etc.

[khaosman]

Awesome! I can't wait to hear your impressions when it is all said and done.

My motor is out now so hopefully drilling the piece and removing it won't be too bad. I need to get new brackets for the engine stand as the bolts are too big. That or get a drill bit and bore the current brackets.

[KzA]

The upside of being a manager at a shop - I can use lifts, tools, diagnostic equiptment or whatever I want and work on my car afterhours, when we are slow, etc.

Hmm...where is the shop located? I might come down to fix some issues of my own that are preventing me from really enjoying my car..I go to school in SC by the way

[dirtysouth_msp]

Done with first part of break-in! Everything is happy, no codes, no leaks. Changed oil & switched to 02-03 WRX oil filter today and did not find any metal shavings in the oil or on the magnetic drain plug. The WRX filter is a lot bigger and fits perfect.

Finally got on it for the first time and it feels great. AFRs are a little back and forth at times. They seem a little on the lean side when in vac, but in boost they stay mostly below 11.4. Sometimes they are really rich, in the 10s. I'm running about 9 psi spike and holding at 8 on the stock turbo. The unichip is tuned for 12psi spike and hold at 10psi, but not tuned for my setup.

I think it runs a little leaner at idle and in vac due to the absence of the butterfly valves & dual intake runners. Powerband seems a hell of a lot smoother with this intake. The only thing that is kind of annoying is that this intake manifold forces you to warm the car up. If you don't you will not even get out of a parking space, lol.

The clutch and flywheel feel great. The clutch has a little stiffer pedal than stock and grabs good. It revs a good bit faster with the Spec flywheel. I thought it might be a bitch trying to pussy-foot it (low rpm, no boost) during break-in due to the flywheel, but it only took about 2 hrs to get used to.

I do not feel much difference in torque from the lower compression. It feels a good bit more powerful in the upper rpms. I figure the power has to be from the intake since it was the only real power adder. Not to mention, the lower compression should make less power at the same boost level.

I need to tune this fucker, but I'm waiting on a manifold from Protephile's group buy. When it gets here, I'm putting in the the manifold, GT28rs, Walbro fuel pump, 560cc injectors, Perrin fuel rail, and some slimmer fans so the bigger snail will fit. I figure since it is rich when it needs to be, I should be fine until then. Not really planning to push the car that hard until then any way. Any suggestions on what brand/model fans I should get and where to get them for a reasonable price?

[Velocifero]

Done with break-in! Everything is happy, no codes, no leaks. Changed oil & switched to 02-03 WRX oil filter today and did not find any metal shavings in the oil or on the magnetic drain plug. The WRX filter is a lot bigger and fits perfect.

Finally got on it for the first time and it feels great. AFRs are a little back and forth at times. They seem a little on the lean side when in vac, but in boost they stay mostly below 11.4. Sometimes they are really rich, in the 10s. I'm running about 9 psi spike and holding at 8 on the stock turbo. The unichip is tuned for 12psi spike and hold at 10psi, but not tuned for my setup.

I think it runs a little leaner at idle and in vac due to the absence of the butterfly valves & dual intake runners. Powerband seems a hell of a lot smoother with this intake. The only thing that is kind of annoying is that this intake manifold forces you to warm the car up. If you don't you will not even get out of a parking space, lol.

The clutch and flywheel feel great. The clutch has a little stiffer pedal than stock and grabs good. It revs a good bit faster with the Spec flywheel. I thought it might be a bitch trying to pussy-foot it (low rpm, no boost) during break-in due to the flywheel, but it only took about 2 hrs to get used to.

I do not feel much difference in torque from the lower compression. It feels a good bit more powerful in the upper rpms. I figure the power has to be from the intake since it was the only real power adder. Not to mention, the lower compression should make less power at the same boost level.

I need to tune this fucker, but I'm waiting on a manifold from Protephile's group buy. When it gets here, I'm putting in the the manifold, GT28rs, Walbro fuel pump, 560cc injectors, Perrin fuel rail, and some slimmer fans so the bigger snail will fit. I figure since it is rich when it needs to be, I should be fine until then. Not really planning to push the car that hard until then any way. Any suggestions on what brand/model fans I should get and where to get them for a reasonable price?
Rogue has the Spal fans, they are working good for him, easy install

[dirtysouth_msp]

A couple of engine bay pics before the turbo, tubular manifold, etc.

[daedalus]

Looking good man.

[CustomMSP]

Looks good man, you have a good starting point.

[meinp5]

Sweet thread. I'm about 4 mths. late.

[jmv]

nice stuff man, betcha can't wait to get the gt28rs on and tuned!!

FWIW i'm running a 12" and a 9" SPAL slimline fan, they've worked fine for me although the 9" in particular is a little noisy. My A/C condensor fan is on the front of the radiator, which could help you get more clearance as well.

Pretty sure you can get the SPAL fans from *************.com.

[khaosman]

Looking good! Wish my bay looked like that... for several reasons :D

[Velocifero]

you and your damn subs Rob!

[Bala]

Great progress - and some great shots / info (2thumbs)

[kamon8404]

I don't know if someone mentioned this earlier but I heard that the stock fuel rail is more efficient than the perrin.

[Jaysanooch]

Lookin' good...I love your battery thing...where'd you get that?

[JDM Sam]

That cometic engine gasket set is shit. I used one and I ended up ditching the majority of the gaskets it came with. That oil pan gasket it comes with doesn't work either. Stick to Permatex gray and OEM gaskets. I'd use only the Cometic head gasket. BTW, you can take that damper off on the driver mount bolted on top with the 17mm nut since you have the inserts.

[03MSP]

Glad to hear all is going well for ya. Too bad I sold you the block because now mine is in pieces :p

Looks like I'll be doing a build of my own soon!

[daedalus]

What?! I saw you driving on Thursday?!?!

[03MSP]

What?! I saw you driving on Thursday?!?!

Early this morning (4:45am) the 42nd street exit claimed a rod and a good chunk of my block...check my thread in this section for pics :(

[dirtysouth_msp]

Glad to hear all is going well for ya. Too bad I sold you the block because now mine is in pieces :p

Looks like I'll be doing a build of my own soon!

Damn man, that sucks ass. I figured you had to be close to the power limit of the stock rods with the mods you're running. I still have my stock block with less than 25,000 miles on it. Mazda put it in my car under warranty @ 28,000 miles after a wrist-pin let go. Nothing is wrong with it, compression is good, just upgraded so I could go big. If you don't decide to go forged, let me know if I can help you out in any way.

Well, this morning at about 8:40 AM my diff split into 2 pieces, so the tranny has to come back out. I should have done the diff while the tranny was out! I ordered a new "revised" lsd, bearings, races and seals from Mazda this morning. I should have everything by Thursday. The diff is going straight to our welders to be tig welded for reinforcement before I put it in. I should be back on the road sometime next week.

I thought about buying a prewelded one from SpeedCircuit or ProtegeGarage, but it would take about 2 weeks to get one from S.C. because they do not stock the part. I don't even know if Protege Garage even still sells them prewelded. Not listed on their website anymore and Ken has not responded to my PM or inquiry through his website (it's only been like half a day though). However, I realized that we have a wholesale account with Mazda...duh. They'll have the parts to me this week and welding should only take a day. Not to mention, I saved a good bit of money doing it this way...duh.

[dirtysouth_msp]

Got my new diff, bearing, races and axle seals today :)

It is going to the welder's shop first thing in the morning.

[JDM Sam]

Replace the synchros and hubs if you have shifting problems while you are in there. Replace the input shaft seal also as insurance.

[dirtysouth_msp]

Replace the synchros and hubs if you have shifting problems while you are in there. Replace the input shaft seal also as insurance.

Never had any shifting problems whatsoever, so I may not need them. Input shaft seal is a good idea though. Basically, if I see anything that does not look right it getting replaced. I'd rather it take few more days, if is has to, than have problems in the future.

[JDM Sam]

Sounds good. Maybe I'll see you at Nopi Nats and I'll have built motor map for you.

[djarkitek]

everyone is forging!! (peep)

[dirtysouth_msp]

Sounds good. Maybe I'll see you at Nopi Nats and I'll have built motor map for you.

Sounds good. I think I'm going to go this year.

[dirtysouth_msp]

Sam,

I just ran across abunch of your videos on YouTube. "Small asian man tuning FTW!" Ha ha ha ha ha!!!

[JDM Sam]

That would be one of Pirana's videos he made.
I dunno about being small. I'm tall just not big and fat.

[dirtysouth_msp]

That would be one of Pirana's videos he made.
I dunno about being small. I'm tall just not big and fat.

LOL, my bad, I thought I saw it posted under your name. I've never seen ya, so I would not know about that. Who's msp had the gt28? Piranah out ran him with stock turbo? Were you tuning Unichip on the laptop?

[JDM Sam]

The other was another car here. The owner prefers to remain anonymous. Pirana had stock turbo. Yes, but no more. Waiting to setup a Haltech E8 when he has time to put it in. I am playing with the Unichip a little longer before I put my E8 in as well.

[dirtysouth_msp]

The other was another car here. The owner prefers to remain anonymous. Pirana had stock turbo. Yes, but no more. Waiting to setup a Haltech E8 when he has time to put it in. I am playing with the Unichip a little longer before I put my E8 in as well.

Is the haltech a full standalone? I'd like something that is more tuneable than unichip, but I need OBD2 interface to pass emissions where I live.

[JDM Sam]

It won't pass OBD2 readiness tests. You'll will just have to wire it in using male/female connectors for a quick swap back to stock ecu when inspection time comes.

[dirtysouth_msp]

It won't pass OBD2 readiness tests. You'll will just have to wire it in using male/female connectors for a quick swap back to stock ecu when inspection time comes.

Yeah, kind of a pain in the arse. I dunno, if my local tuner can do it with the Unichip then I'll probably stick with it a while. If not then I guess connectors is going to be the way to go.

[Velocifero]

Yeah, kind of a pain in the arse. I dunno, if my local tuner can do it with the Unichip then I'll probably stick with it a while. If not then I guess connectors is going to be the way to go.
You can go the same route I am. Megasquirt PNP. That and a pass everytime emmissions friend.

[dirtysouth_msp]

You can go the same route I am. Megasquirt PNP. That and a pass everytime emmissions friend.

It's a little more difficult with an OBD2 car. The car's VIN is read by the emissions computer. It will not throw a flag immediately, but during an station audit it can be noticed by the auditor. I am a Georgia Clean Air Force certified emissions inspector and we have a full inspection station at the shop...

[dirtysouth_msp]

Pics of where the AWR oil pan is leaking...

[dirtysouth_msp]

Well, tranny is on the ground and the diff is welded. Disassembly of the tranny has begun...

[Velocifero]

Well, tranny is on the ground and the diff is welded. Disassembly of the tranny has begun...
watch out for the plastic runner!

[dirtysouth_msp]

watch out for the plastic runner!

Yep, I see it. Being very careful and anything that gives me problems is getting replaced.

[dirtysouth_msp]

Opened up the tranny and removed the broken diff. It was cleanly split in half as I expected. The torque sensing rings and everything were held in place inside the diff , but they are worthless now. Nothing else inside the tranny was damaged.

[dirtysouth_msp]

Tranny is all back together and sealed up! It will be going back in the car this afternoon.

I'd like to thank couple of people who contributed great info in their tranny threads. These 2 people go by the names Turfburn and Focus.

Turfburn's lsd swap thread can be found here:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67599

Focus's thread with a huge PDF file for a complete tranny rebuild can be found here:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123668574&highlight=rebuild+transmission

Although I have access to a lot of manufacturer info / repair procedures, etc. at the shop, these threads made my life a whole lot easier. + Rep for both of you...

[Velocifero]

Opened up the tranny and removed the broken diff. It was cleanly split in half as I expected. The torque sensing rings and everything were held in place inside the diff , but they are worthless now. Nothing else inside the tranny was damaged.
wow the tabs on the last picture were completely gone on mine

[dirtysouth_msp]

The Banana of Atlanta is back in action...lol.

Finished everything up about an hour ago. Everything seems happy (knocks on wood, jk). (cool)

It was not all that bad, everthing went pretty smooth and I got paid to work on my own car. Can't complain about that. Also, I knew the diff would go eventually anyway.

[dirtysouth_msp]

wow the tabs on the last picture were completely gone on mine

Shame on you Scott, have you been launching at high rpms? LOL, JK. That is pretty strange, was your diff even locking up before it broke?

[kamon8404]

Man i can't wait to see this build when its finally done

[Velocifero]

Shame on you Scott, have you been launching at high rpms? LOL, JK. That is pretty strange, was your diff even locking up before it broke?
nope and no it was performing normal up til the break, actually it was feeling great, i launch at about 2500 on course, but on the road I don't do too many launches and never dragged it. Thing didn't make a damn noise when mine went and didn't make any noise after that either. It was strange, I was doing a scca event and was on like my 20 somethings run. I don't know if you have ever been in the parking lot that used to be Atl Fulton Co Stadium, but it is a popular one of rus to autox and there is the brick section where the old in-field used to be, there is a hump in that and I went over it full throttle the car unloaded then once it settled back the car just screamed, me and the other guy both just looked down at the shifter first cause it sounded like it just came out of gear, threw it into nuetral and back into second, same problem, it was right before the finnish luckily and i still had plenty of momentum, sad part was i wasn't even driving, i was letting BigB drive it to feel the difference with the cutout open when it happened. But it woulda broken no matter what eventually because i do drive my car and at least once a month it is driven pretty hard be it on course or doing mountain runs. i am not saying i baby the car the rest of the time but I wouldn't say i abuse it either. I just think that once you get to a certain level of modification it really takes a toll on th ediff in these. i still love the car to death and can't wait to put that tranny back in, hopefully this weekend or early next week. you wouldn't happen to have an extra main tranny shaft bearing would you?

[dirtysouth_msp]

nope and no it was performing normal up til the break, actually it was feeling great, i launch at about 2500 on course, but on the road I don't do too many launches and never dragged it. Thing didn't make a damn noise when mine went and didn't make any noise after that either. It was strange, I was doing a scca event and was on like my 20 somethings run. I don't know if you have ever been in the parking lot that used to be Atl Fulton Co Stadium, but it is a popular one of rus to autox and there is the brick section where the old in-field used to be, there is a hump in that and I went over it full throttle the car unloaded then once it settled back the car just screamed, me and the other guy both just looked down at the shifter first cause it sounded like it just came out of gear, threw it into nuetral and back into second, same problem, it was right before the finnish luckily and i still had plenty of momentum, sad part was i wasn't even driving, i was letting BigB drive it to feel the difference with the cutout open when it happened. But it woulda broken no matter what eventually because i do drive my car and at least once a month it is driven pretty hard be it on course or doing mountain runs. i am not saying i baby the car the rest of the time but I wouldn't say i abuse it either. I just think that once you get to a certain level of modification it really takes a toll on th ediff in these. i still love the car to death and can't wait to put that tranny back in, hopefully this weekend or early next week. you wouldn't happen to have an extra main tranny shaft bearing would you?

Nope, sorry, don't have one laying around, but I could get one within a couple of business days. Rick Case always gives us rush delivery on special order parts. Yeah, I know what you mean about the diff, it was bound to happen eventually. Those tabs probably got sheared due to the rpms when your diff broke. Mine broke while gently beginning to pull away from a traffic light (first gear, very low rpm). I immediately knew what had happened, threw it in neutral and coasted into a parking lot. That's probably the only reason mine were still intact.

[Velocifero]

Nope, sorry, don't have one laying around, but I could get one within a couple of business days. Rick Case always gives us rush delivery on special order parts. Yeah, I know what you mean about the diff, it was bound to happen eventually. Those tabs probably got sheared due to the rpms when your diff broke. Mine broke while gently beginning to pull away from a traffic light (first gear, very low rpm). I immediately knew what had happened, threw it in neutral and coasted into a parking lot. That's probably the only reason mine were still intact.
i shoulda ordered it when i got the lsd bearings, OMP got them to me in one day UPS ground it was crazy.

[dirtysouth_msp]

This stuff is really cool to look at and all, but I really wish my exhaust mani studs would arrive so I can get started, lol.

[RXMmazdaspeed]

that exhaust manifold is sex

[dirtysouth_msp]

***Self threadjack***

Hopefully I'll quit finding these sons of bitches everywhere (my garage, the shop, etc.) so I live to see my car make real power, lol!

[khaosman]

Put It In... Crank The Boost!!!

[daedalus]

I HATE SPIDERS... Put them in the street and do a burnout on top of those bastards.

[dirtysouth_msp]

that exhaust manifold is sex

Thanks, it's one from the Thunder Group Buy made possible by Protephile.

[terbow]

***Self threadjack***

Hopefully I'll quit finding these sons of bitches everywhere (my garage, the shop, etc.) so I live to see my car make real power, lol!

when i lived in az i got bit by a baby one. man that shit hurt. im lucky it was a baby one.


on topic... nice parts. should be a beast when its done. ive owned all those parts so if u hit any snags feel free to pm me id lvoe to help where i can.

[dirtysouth_msp]

I HATE SPIDERS... Put them in the street and do a burnout on top of those bastards.

These are one of the worst, black freakin' widows. That one was about the size of a silver dollar with its legs spread out. I've also found a few brown recluses, but they are more common here in GA. I think both are about the same level of poison. I figure I will catch as many as I can and turn them loose on my enemies, lol just kidding!

[kamon8404]

***Self threadjack***

Hopefully I'll quit finding these sons of bitches everywhere (my garage, the shop, etc.) so I live to see my car make real power, lol!

Dude that is crazy ... I have never seen one in person, but it definitely looks sick.

[terbow]

usually tehy are smaller, thsoe look pretty menacing.

[1moreMPH]

those were everywhere back when i used to live in ATL. 'things are some scary shit. don't let 'em near the turbo!! nice parts.

[khaosman]

oh what the fuck when i posted i didn't see the pictures of the spiders

i hate spiders too!!! they give me the creeps man.